The Return of Jesus

Dating the Return of Jesus

By Robert Lakey

Introduction

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." (2 Peter 3:8)

It occurs to me that the above verse gives humanity a clue as to the year in which Jesus will return to Earth to begin the Millennium. Jesus returned into heaven two thousand years ago and promised to come back when finished making a place for His followers.

“…I am going to prepare a place for you…And I am coming again…” (John 14:3)

The Bible also tells how He will return.

“This is how it will happen. Jesus Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout…then the believers who have died will rise from the dead. At the same time those of us who are still alive will rise with them through the clouds to meet Jesus in the air. After that we will be with Him forever. So, encourage each other with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Chapter One

Years from the Creation of Adam to the Return of Jesus

While studying the Bible I discovered that he scripture allows us to add up the years from the birth of Jesus back to the creation of Adam. Those years add up to exactly three thousand nine hundred sixty-five years in the Masoretic Text.

Jesus’s birth back to end of the Babylonian Captivity 483 years

(Daniel 9:24-25)

Years in captivity 70 years

(Jeremiah 25:11)

End of the reigns of the Kings of Judah back to start of the Temple 419 years

(1 Kings 6:1 through 2 Kings 24:8)

Start of Temple back to the Exodus from Egypt 480 years

(1 Kings 6:1)

Exodus back to Abraham’s entry into Canaan 430 years

Exodus 12:40-41; Acts 7:4)

Entry into Canaan back to beginning of world-wide flood 427 years

(Genesis 5:3-32; 7:6. 11; 11:30)

Flood back to creation of Adam 1,656 years

(Genesis 2:7 through 3:23)

Sum of the years from birth of Jesus birth back to creation of Adam 3,965 years

NOTE: If each day of creation represents a 1,000 years, there is 2,035 years from the birth of Jesus until to the 6,000th year from the creation of Adam - the year Jesus returns to reign over the earth for 1,000 years ending 7,000 years from the creation of Adam.

Chapter Two

Fiftieth Year Jubilee

“Count seven times seven years, a total of forty-nine years. Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, send someone to blow a trumpet throughout the whole land. In this way you shall set the FIFTIETH year apart and proclaim freedom to all the inhabitants of the land. A Jubilee year shall this one be..." (Leviticus 25:9-11)

"Then the LORD said, "I will not allow humanity to live forever; they are mortal. They will live 120 years." (Genesis 6:3)

The Hebrew word translated "years" is "shanah" and refers to a regularly repeated period of time. It usually refers to years however the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance says it could refer to a whole age.

The Hebrew word "Jubilee" means "ram's horn/trumpet" A Jubilee refers to the celebration of a special event regularly celebrated repeatedly on the fiftieth year. The Jubilee above is a special event for Israel when every slave was set free, all financial debt was cancelled, and all the land allotted among the twelve tribes of Israel was returned to the original owners.

I think God was telling Noah and humanity in general that he would limit humanity's dominion of the Earth to 120 Jubilee repeated cycles of years. If so,120 Jubilee years from Adam's creation would be a total of six thousand years (120 X 50 = 6,000). Man's reign ends and the reign of Jesus begins and lasts 1,000 years. At its beginning all slaves will be set free, all financial debt cancelled, and all the land allotted among those set free.

Another reason I do not think the above is a reference to the lifespan of humans is that some humans who lived after that 120 year declaration from God above lived much longer than 120 years, for example…

“… when Shem was one hundred years old, he had a son, Arpachshad. After that, he lived another five hundred years.” (Genesis 11:10-11)

Coincidence? You decide for yourself.

Chapter Three

Years from the Rejection of Jesus to His Return

"The people say, “Let us return to the LORD! He has hurt us, but He will be sure to heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage our wounds, won't he? After TWO DAYS, during the third day he will revive us, and we will live in His presence. Let us try to know the LORD. He will come.” (Hosea 6:1-3)

Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah when He came the first time, and the Romans crucified Him at Israel’s request. Nevertheless, Jesus forgave them because they did not understand what they were doing.

“Father, forgive them, they do not understand what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

The crucifixion of Jesus occurred on the preparation day for the Jewish Passover festival which is a celebration of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery. That Israel would be saved even after rejecting Jesus was a secret revealed to the Apostle Paul.

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-27)

Israel has been punished for rejecting Jesus for almost two thousand years. It is interesting that the prophet Hosea told Israel that after “two days” their Savior would come to heal them and Jesus is their Savior. If one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, Hosea was telling Israel that their Messiah and Savior would return and heal Israel 2,000 years after they had rejected Him. Jesus promised to return, and told His followers they should watch for His return.

“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near…So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:27-28, 36)

In Chapter Four I will show evidence that Jesus was crucified when he was 34 years old, in the 35th year after His birth. It will show that 2,000 years after His crucifixion will be year 2,035 AD, exactly 6,000 years from the creation of Adam!

Coincidence? You decide for yourself.

Chapter Four

The Day Jesus Was Crucified

"...He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. There they crucified Him." (John 19:17-18)

The Jewish festival of Unleavened Bread begins on Passover. It is a multi-day holiday season celebrating Israel’s exodus from Egypt. There are two “high” sabbath days during that festival in addition to the weekly sabbath. These two “high” days are called Passover and Firstfruits.

"Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a HIGH DAY), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away."(John 19:31)

The day of before Passover begins is called "the day of preparation". On that day that Jewish people eat the Passover meal soon after sunset. The first "high day" begins at sunset on day the passover meal is eaten and is the first of the seven days of the festival of Unleavened Bread. The second "high day" is called Firstfruits which begins at sunset on the day following the weekly sabbath day which occurs during the seven-day festival.

Jesus told the Jewish leaders that the only miracle they would be given to prove He was the Messiah was that He would die and remain entombed for three days and three nights.

"The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:39-40)

The Christian tradition that Jesus died on Friday could not be correct because it does NOT allow Him to have been entombed for three full days and three full nights before His resurrection. According to the bible, a day begins at sundown and ends the next day at sundown. In the year He was crucified, Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples on the day of preparation for the Passover which had to be on a Tuesday after sundown. Jesus was arrested later that night and brought before the Jewish leaders early Wednesday morning which was still the preparation day for Passover. He was tried, convicted of blasphemy, and delivered to the Romans as a criminal deserving of death. They asked Pilot the Roman leader to put Jesus to death and he reluctantly granted their request. He crucified Jesus around noon on Wednesday and Jesus died around 3:00 that Wednesday afternoon just before sundown which was still the day of preparation.

Again, there are three sabbath days during the seven-day festival of Unleavened Bread. The two high days, and one weekly sabbath. It is clear to me that the events occurred as follows:

Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples on Tuesday night after sundown.

He was crucified on Wednesday at about noon on the day of preparation.

He died at 3:00 and entombed just before sunset on Wednesday.

He was in the tomb for three nights (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) and three days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

He was raised from death following the weekly Sabbath day (Saturday at sundown) which was the beginning of the high day of Firstfruits.

At sunrise (Sunday morning) the women came to the tomb and was told Jesus had been raised to life.

Only the above scenario fulfills all the biblical accounts I find in the scripture about His crucifixion, entombment, and resurrection.

The bible uses a lunar calendar and does not recognize the names of the days of the week we currently use which were invented by the Romans. Therefore, the Roman day during the events of the festival of Unleavened Bread changes from year to year. For Jesus to have been crucified in the 35th year following His birth, the crucifixion of Jesus had to be in a year that the Passover day occuredc on a Wednesday. According to the Hebrew Calendar website and the day of the week calculator website.

http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=35

http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/dayofweek.html

These websites show that the 35th year after His birth (35 AD) Passover was on Wednesday, April 11.

If I am correct, then the year AD 2035 will be 2,000 years after His crucifixion, 120 Jubilees from the creation of Adam, and 6,000 yeards from the creation of Adam.

So, will Jesus return in AD 2035 to begin the Millennium or is all of the above just a coincidence?

Again, you decide for yourself.

Chapter Five

The Year of His Return for Believers (sometimes called the Rapture)

If Jesus returns in AD 2035 it will also be the year in which the Millennium starts. However, the Bible teaches that Jesus will return for Believers before that time. They will be called up into the air to meet Him in the air. That will be the beginning of a period of time when the wrath of God comes upon the world government of the final world leader, called the wild beast (Antichrist).

Following is a scenario for for that time to be in the year AD 2034.

"For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution for the cause of Zion." (Isaiah 34:8)

"Be strong, do not fear; your God will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." (Isaiah 35:3-4)

"...to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn..." (Isaiah 61:2)

"For the day of vengeance was in my heart, the year of my redemption has come." (Isaiah 63:4)

The book of Revelation details the wrath of God to follow the opening of the seventh seal followed by one half hour of silence in heaven. Then the wrath starts with the blowing of the first of seven trumpets.

"And when he opens the seventh seal, a hush occurred in heaven for half an hour. And I perceived the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them." (Revelation 8:1-2)

So, believers may be taken up to meet Jesus in AD 2034, during the half hour of silence. The Apostle Paul assures us that we are not appointed to the following one year period of the wrath of God.

"For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain deliverance by our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:9)